Will Algeria-Italy Galsi Gas Pipeline Be Revived?
Energy experts and specialists put forward the idea of reactivating the Algeria-Italian Galsi gas pipeline project that passes through the island of Sardinia, which was frozen 10 years ago, but this time not to transport gas but to transport green hydrogen from the Algerian Sahara towards Europe.
These proposals were made by European experts and officials, during the work of the second forum on the energy between Algeria and the European Union, held last week in Algiers, in the presence of the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, and the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, given Algeria’s enormous potential in the Green hydrogen production.
A New Facility With Adequate Safety, Security Standards
Proponents of this proposal justified their step given the studies available regarding the Galsi pipeline, which was supposed to transport gas from Algeria (Koudiet Draouch in El Tarf- eastern Algeria) to the Italian island of Sardinia and from there to the Italian mainland, specifically in the Piombino region of Tuscany.
Supporters of the idea also attributed their proposal to the fact that green hydrogen requires special facilities and equipment that meet strict and adequately supported security and safety standards to ensure it will reach its desired destination, and also given that this clean energy is highly flammable and poses risks when transporting it.
From this point of view, the revitalization of the Galsi pipeline project, with certain standards and conditions, will allow the transportation of green hydrogen produced in southern Algeria through a facility that meets the necessary conditions for safety and security.
Furthermore, the owners of the idea defended the revival of the project because the new facility “The New Galsi”, would enable the transfer of large quantities of this clean energy to the European continent, in light of the possibility of producing it in a huge amount in the Algerian desert, given the availability of the necessary solar energy to produce sufficient electricity and groundwater, which will allow the analysis of water molecules with electricity produced from solar plants, and to obtain green hydrogen that is transported through pipelines.
From the Algerian side, interveners, especially among the current and former officials of the national hydrocarbon company Sonatrach, raised the issue of the inevitable injection of European investments into Algeria, whether in traditional energy sources such as gas or new and clean energies, including hydrogen, in addition to ensuring a market for what is produced of different types of energies.
Previously, the second energy forum between Algeria and the European Union was distinguished by a clear message to the Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, who confirmed that Algeria’s vision of cooperation with the European Union in light of the convening of the Energy Forum must be comprehensive and beneficial to both parties, adding that “Algeria’s role in it should not be limited to being the main and traditional supplier of European energy markets, but it must go beyond it to all other aspects of energy such as electrical interconnection, hydrogen development, new and renewable energies and energy efficiency in addition to technology and knowledge transfer”.
As it is known, the Galsi gas pipeline project was killed after its birth 10 years ago due to the administrative impediments by the ruling (left) Democratic Party’s officials who refused in 2011 to sign licenses to transit the Galsi gas pipeline, which was supposed to transport 10 bcm annually of gas from Algeria to Italy, which deprived their country, according to Italian media, of this important quantity of Algerian gas annually, through this facility, which has never seen the light of day.
Italian media explained that the European Union revealed on September 1 that it had allocated 120 million euros at the time, as an aid to the pipeline as “a vital project that helps diversify the sources of gas supply to the European continent”, but Brussels quickly withdrew its financial aid for the project, due to the delay in issuing administrative authorization for the pipeline to pass through Tuscany, and the 120 million euros were returned to the European Union treasury.
Algeria and Italy had signed an agreement to complete a second gas pipeline linking the two countries in the summer of 2007 on the island of Sardinia, on the occasion of holding the first high-level bilateral summit, in the presence of the late former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and then Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
Algeria currently supplies Italy with gas through the “Trans-Med Enrico Mattei” pipeline, which passes through Tunisia to Mazara del Vallo, on the island of Sicily, where, according to Italian statistics, Algerian gas supplies far exceeded their Russian counterparts, reaching about 67 mcm/day.
